


The Way You Are

by MotherOfBeardedDragons



Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, He's not, Pizza, Reader has self-esteem issues, Reader-Insert, reader has had a rough week, reader thinks Matt might be psychic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-13
Updated: 2017-01-13
Packaged: 2018-09-17 03:41:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9302627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MotherOfBeardedDragons/pseuds/MotherOfBeardedDragons
Summary: Reader has had a rough week. You feel like you are bad at your job, not attractive, smart, and are an overall loser. You also are convinced Matt, Foggy, and Karen are only friends with you because they feel sorry for you. After you cancel plans for that evening with the three, Matt appears in your apartment and finds you crying. He's determined to fix this. You're determined to keep your problems to yourself. And so it begins...Stubborn Reader Vs. Stubborn(er) Matt Murdock.





	

**Author's Note:**

> So this is a little one-shot I wanted to do. I didn't have a beta so have mercy on any mistakes/errors. Enjoy!

   You sat in the chair and cried quietly. You had been having a rough week. Work was stressful and everyone acted like you were an idiot. You were starting to doubt your own abilities to do your job, even though deep down you knew you were good at what you did. You were also just coming out of a hard breakup. Well, to be fair you weren’t “just” coming out of it; it had been about six months. But it still hurt. And you still felt lonely. You had made some new friends since moving to Hell’s Kitchen. Some crazy new friends, friends you maybe didn’t deserve; you still weren’t sure why they hung around you. Matt, Foggy, and Karen. You had met them at a local bar. Maybe they had sensed your loneliness. They had invited you over for some friendly drinks and you guys had hit it off. Meeting for drinks each week became a regular thing. And then you started hanging out more often and going over to each other’s places for dinner. But you made sure to keep yourself guarded. You had been hurt and didn’t really feel like repeating the process. Then one night it happened. You stumbled upon Matt’s biggest secret.  

   It was a complete accident. The four of you had been walking on the sidewalk after a movie when someone reached from a nearby alley and pulled Karen in. You had frozen for a moment in surprise. You had reached in your bag for your mace and was about to go after her when you realized Matt had run into the alley. You and Foggy had ran after him. You then witnessed Matt kicking the asses of three large guys. Karen had run over to you and Foggy as you stood speechless, unable to figure out what the hell was going on. The last man had been knocked unconscious and Matt had turned to face you, his face a mix of emotions. He had realized his secret was out, or part of it at least and didn’t know where things were going to go. 

   You all went to Karen’s apartment to talk. Karen was ok, just shaken up. Matt had explained that the three men worked for a local drug lord he was fighting and they had been following him. He had told you about his training, the accident, and his abilities. He hadn’t brought up the Devil but knew you were smart enough to put two and two together. He had explained that he didn’t want to keep secrets from anyone but he hadn’t wanted anyone else pulled into his dangerous life. He had said he felt guilty for now putting you in danger. You had assured him that even though it was a lot to take in it wouldn’t change anything. And it hadn’t. Except for making you wonder even more why Matt would choose to hang out with you. 

   He was an insanely talented fighter with super-abilities, not to mention a kickass lawyer. He could be friends with anyone and yet he chose to hang around you. It didn’t help that he was ridiculously good-looking and that you were finding yourself developing feelings for him. You had had feelings for him since that first night in the bar but you had pushed them down. You worked even harder to suppress your feelings now.

   It blew your mind that Foggy and Karen would want to hang out with you too. Foggy was charismatic and an all around good person. Plus he was also a kickass lawyer. You were more quiet and introverted and took pleasure in his outgoingness and antics. Karen was gorgeous and kind, not to mention an amazing journalist. She was the type of person anyone would want to be friends with. These were three attractive, kind, talented, and successful people and you couldn’t fathom why they hung around you. You liked to think you were kind, but you weren’t attractive. And your job, even though you loved it, wasn’t all that impressive. You had convinced yourself they were friends with you out of pity. They had seen a lonely pathetic person and had taken you in. They were caring and kind and you couldn’t stand that tonight. The four of you had made plans to go out to dinner but you had cancelled, calling Karen at the last minute and making some excuse about being unwell. You just couldn’t take them being nice to you and you knowing it stemmed from pity. 

   “ **Y/N**?” You jumped and turned to see Matt standing in your living room. You wished you could disappear or just explode or anything other than be in this situation. Here was the last person you would want to see your weakness. And was witnessing you sitting in a dark room crying like a loser. Fantastic. You wondered how long he had been standing there. And how the hell he had gotten in.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

   “Your door was partially open. I was worried something was wrong. I didn’t want to call out in case someone had broken in,” Matt explained as if reading your thoughts. You hoped to God he wasn’t actually psychic along with all his other abilities. You must have forgotten to lock your door when you had rushed home upset. You knew the wind usually managed to blow it open if it was unlocked. But that still didn’t explain why the hell he was here. 

“Karen said you didn’t sound good when you called. She was still at work and was worried about you so I offered to stop by.”

Shit. Maybe he was actually psychic. 

“Shit are you psychic,” you say. 

Matt looked confused. “What?”

“Nevermind,” you mumbled trying to subtly fix your hair. “Do you want coffee or tea or something?”  

“No, I’m good,” Matt said patiently with a kind expression, “I was actually wanting to know why you were sitting in the dark crying instead of being out with me, Foggy and Karen.”

   Damn. He didn’t beat around the bush. You took a second to try to gather your thoughts. What should you tell him? Work was stressful? He was a vigilante that almost got killed on a regular basis, compared to that your job was a cakewalk. Do you tell him you’re lonely? That you feel like he, Foggy, and Karen only hang around you because they felt sorry for you? Then you’d come across as an ungrateful asshole. You definitely couldn’t tell him the big reason why you were crying: your self-esteem sucked. You thought you were boring, unattractive, and unintelligent. Especially after this week of failure. But you couldn’t tell him that because then you’d just look sad. You realized Matt was still sitting there patiently while you went through all this in your head. You needed to say something. Something intelligent and thoughtful. “I’m...I’m not crying. I have a cold. It’s congestion.” Yeah. Good one. Give the lamest excuse ever to the guy who can tell when people are lying by their heartbeat. Matt just gave you a look. 

“Ok that sucked. I just don’t really want to talk about it,” you muttered looking down and playing with the fabric of the blanket on the chair. 

   Matt sighed. He could handle more bullshit than most people but you could tell he was impatient to find out what was wrong. You knew he hated to see people hurting or upset. “Look, **Y/N** ,” he said bordering on exasperation, “We need to talk about this. I think I might have an idea of what’s bothering you.” Shit. He was definitely psychic. You knew it. 

“I know the whole Devil of Hell’s Kitchen vigilante thing is a lot to take in. Ever since you’ve found out you’ve been distancing yourself from me, Karen, and Foggy more and more. I have a darkness in me, and I understand. I understand that it’s scary and not normal and that you don’t want to be near all the destruction and danger that follows me…” You sat silently not expecting this turn of conversation and not sure what to say. 

“Look,” Matt continued, “It’s ok. You can hang out with Karen and Foggy still and I’ll make myself scarce. I know it’s not anything personal and that you’re a really kind person. I’m sure this has been tough. I don’t want to force you into an uncomfortable situation. And I really don’t want to put you in any danger.”

You sat in shock for a moment. Matt thought this was his fault. He thought that you were afraid of him. That you were avoiding him. You felt like you had been punched. 

“What the fuck,” you finally managed to speak. Matt raised an eyebrow. Ok, maybe now would be a good time to use your words and not cuss out the Catholic guy. Even if he was being a self-sacrificing idiot. However, your thoughts were going a million miles an hour and you found yourself plowing ahead without really thinking.  

“That’s not it. That’s not even close to being true. Anyone would be lucky to be friends with you. Devil and all. I’m not friends with you just out of politeness or...or pity or something like that. If anything it’s the other way around. I didn’t mean to make you think I’m afraid of you or that I don’t want to be friends with you,” you said quickly. You had a sudden fear that him thinking you didn’t want to be around him provided the perfect excuse for him to ditch you. But Matt wouldn’t do that... 

“The other way around?” Matt said pausing for a moment and breaking you out of your thoughts. Dammit. You realized you had slipped up. And you think he caught it. “You think I’m only friends with you out of ‘politeness’ or ‘pity’” 

Shit. Out of all your stupid rambling that’s the one thing he picked up. “That came out wrong. I didn’t mean it like that.”

“You’re lying,” he replied with a sad smile. 

   Damn his super senses. You sighed. You might as well tell him the truth. You had to at this point. “Look. I’m not an idiot. I know that you, Foggy, and Karen invited me over that day at the bar because I was lonely. And that you guys only spend time with me because I’m...well honestly I’m kind of a loser. You all have your awesome jobs and skills and have great personalities and good looks and...and then there’s me. You’re all so nice and I’m really grateful for you being my friends..”

Matt looked incredulous. “You think we’re friends with you because we feel bad for you? And you think you’re a loser?”

You shrugged. “I mean maybe not a loser. But compared to you guys I’m just...I’m nothing special.”

   Matt pinched the bridge of his nose for a second and took a breath, probably praying for strength to deal with your stupidity. “ **Y/N** ,” he finally said, “Do you really feel like that about yourself? I mean, you’re great at your job and on top of that you love it. You’re smart, you’re funny, and kind. I just don’t understand how you can think we don’t actually like you.” Matt looked sad and almost hurt. 

   “Look, I don’t hate myself or anything. I just...I’ve always felt like I’ve never been smart enough or pretty enough or had a great personality. But I’m a grown-ass adult. I shouldn’t be having all of these stupid self-doubts...but I do. And seeing how awesome and successful you three are just makes it more clear. I mean I know I have some good things about me but it feels like half the time all I can see are my flaws.”

“Well then, let me point out some of those good things for you. Especially since you seem to be so blind to everyone else’s faults but your own.”

“Was that a pun?”

   Matt smiled, “No. That wasn’t a pun. But seriously, you aren’t afraid to be yourself. I have never seen you act fake or pretentious or try to hide who you really are. And you treat everyone with the same kindness whether they’re mine and Foggy’s rich lawyer acquaintances or the town drunk down at the bar.”

“Larry?”

Matt smiled. ‘Yes Larry. You see, most people wouldn’t bother to learn his name. Or give him money for a cab on a really cold night.”

You were surprised. That night there had been record-setting low temperatures. You had taken the bartender aside and given him money to make sure Larry got a cab since it was below zero. Matt, Foggy, and Karen had been at the table across the room. “How did you…”

“Super-hearing.” 

   Of course. You’d forgotten about that. Actually at the time you hadn’t known about it. “Look, I have a soft spot for Larry. He reminds me of my uncle. And he was in the army. He’s actually cut back on drinking lately. He’s making good progress and he’s planning on…”

“We’re not here to talk about Larry.” Right.  

“Look. I can’t convince you in one night how amazing you are. If anyone knows what it’s like to loathe themselves it’s me. But I’m going to make it my mission to get you to realize how awesome you are.”

“And how do you plan to do that?”

“Well, I plan to start by ordering pizza and hanging out tonight. I’ll call Foggy and Karen and tell them to come over in about an hour.

“I don’t want to ruin everyone’s plans and…”

“Too bad. They’re coming over.” Matt already had his phone out and was getting ready to call them. Once he got his mind set on something you knew there was no stopping him. 

“Fine. But I don’t want to drag them into my idiot melodrama.”

“I didn’t want to drag you into  _ my _ idiot melodrama but here we are,” Matt replied. 

“I don’t think I’d count being a vigilante as melodrama,” you stated.

“I would.” You turned around in surprise to see Karen. 

“How the hell does everyone keep getting in my house?”

“The door was open.” You really needed to get that fixed. 

“I was on my way home and just wanted to see what was going on. And if Matt had driven you crazy yet,” Karen said. 

“No not yet. And...I’m ok. It’s just been a tough week and I’ve been dealing with some stuff. But I’ll be ok.” You smiled. You knew how you felt about yourself wouldn’t change overnight but you did feel better finally telling someone how you felt. And knowing that Matt genuinely seemed to like you as opposed to feeling sorry for you. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Foggy joined you about 45 min. later and after the three of them convinced you that they were just fine staying in for the night you all ate pizza and watched **(your favorite movie)**. Matt was already familiar with the movie and you were all laughing at Foggy’s over the top descriptions to Matt of what was happening. 

   The credits were rolling and the three of them were getting ready to go. You felt like you had to say something. “I just wanted to say. I’m really grateful for all of your friendships. I don’t feel like I really deserve it sometimes. But, um, I’m just glad you’re here.” Foggy and Karen must have sensed that it was hard for you to open up like this and you really didn’t want to get into the whole “Of course you deserve friendship” thing (again). 

“Well, I just happen to feel the same way,” Foggy said smiling. 

Karen gave you a small hug “Me too. Whatever you need, we’re here for you.” 

“Thank you,” you replied trying not to get emotional. You heard Matt trying not to laugh behind you. You turned around to see Foggy had stolen one of your breadsticks and stuffed the entire thing in his mouth while you had been talking to Karen. 

“Dammit we were having a moment,” you said laughing. Foggy tried muttering some sort of apology around his mouthful of breadstick which made you laugh even harder. 

Foggy and Karen walked out the door. Matt called to them that he would be behind them in a second. “I meant what I said earlier. I don’t care how long it takes but I’m going to try to make you see how amazing you are and how much you mean to all three of us,” Matt said as he put on his coat. You rolled your eyes slightly. 

“Don’t roll your eyes at me,” Matt said with his back still turned.

“How the hell did you even know I….oh wait I know. ‘Super-senses’”

He laughed. “That or I’m psychic.” 

“Haha yeah, psychic.” You laughed nervously. You still hadn’t ruled that out. 

“Thanks again for everything.”

“No problem. Goodnight.” 

“Goodnight,” you replied and were pleasantly surprised when he hugged you. You tried not to latch on too long. Didn’t want to make it weird. 

Matt walked out the door and turned as you were about to close it. 

“ **Y/N**?” 

“Yeah?”

“Remember to lock your door,” he said smirking and walked away. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I might continue this with the ways Matt decides to show Reader that they're awesome. It was just a fun idea after a rough week. The thought of Matt Murdock busting in an upset Reader's apartment and cheering them up made me smile.


End file.
